Sled-propeller.



ITED STATES PATENT orricn.

ANTONIO FRANCESCATTI, OF CEDARHURST, COLORADO.

SLED-PROPELLER.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, ANTONIO FRANCES- CATTI, a subject of the Emperor ofAustria- Hungary, residing at Oedarhurst, in the county of Las Animasand State of Oolorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Sled-Propellers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sleighs which are self-propelled, thepropelling means being a screw which is driven by a motor mounted on thebody of the sleigh.

It is the object of the invention to provide a novel and improvedpropeller screw which is highly efficient in operation, and also toprovide means for prevent-ing snow and ice from sticking to the screw.

In order that the invention may be better understood reference is had tothe accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in whichdrawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sleighprovided'with my improvedpropeller; Fig. 2 is a rear end view thereof, and Fig. 3 is acrosssection on the line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the body 5 of the sleigh ismounted at its front end on runners 6 which are connected to thesleigh-body so that they may be swung' sidewise for the purpose ofsteering the sleigh. Any suitable steering-gear may be provided. Asteering-wheel is shown at 7.

The propeller is located at the rear end of the sleiglrbody, one of suchbeing located on each side. Each propelling device comprises two screws8 and 9, respectively, located one above the other, and extending in thedirection of the length of the sleigh. The bottom screw 8 is taperedtoward both of its ends, and is adapted to be in contact with thesurface of the snow, and when in motion propels the sleigh in an obviousmanner. The top screw 9 is concaved to fit on the bot-tom screw S, andthe threads of the two screws are in mesh. The purpose of the top screwis to keep the threads of the bottom screw clear of snow and ice, thesame being cut and scraped off by t-he threads of the top screw. By thuspreventing the threads of the bottom screw from clogging up, a maximumpropelling eiiiciency is maintained. The two Specication of LettersPatent.

Application filed March 30, 1911.

Patented July 11, 1911. Serial No. 617,889.

screws 8 and 9 are carried by a frame 10 mounted beneath the sleigh-bodyat its rear end. At the front and rear ends of this frame are runners 11which prevent the bottom screw from going too deep into the snow. Eachscrew has a shaft extension at its ends, said extensions being journaledin bearings carried by the frame 10. On the shafts of the bottom screware sprocket wheels 12, and on the shafts of the top screw are sprocketwheels 13. Over both sets of sprocket wheels pass chains 14 which latteralso pass over sprocket wheels 15 on a shaft 16 driven by the motor 17,the latter being an ordinary internal combustion engine which is mountedon the sleigh-body. By means of this drive-gear both screws are rotatedin the same direct-ion. The screws on the other side of the sleigh arearranged and driven in the same manner as the ones already described,the drive chains 19 passing over a second set of sprocket wheels mountedon the shaft 16 beside the sprocket wheels 15.

The construction herein described provides simple and efficientpropelling means for the` sleigh, and the mechanism 1s devoid ofcomplicated parts to get out of order.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown but it will beunderstood that various minor changes in the structural details may beresorted to without a departure from the invention.

I claim 1. A sleigh propeller comprising a pair of screws arranged oneabove the other, and having their threads in mesh, and means forrotating the screws in the same direction.

2. A sleigh propeller comprising a pair of screws arranged one above theother, and having their threads in mesh, the bottom screw being taperedtoward its ends, and the top screw being correspondingly concaved to fitthe bottom screw.

In testimony whereof I atiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANTONIO FRANOESOATTI.

IWitnesses BnNiooMiNo ZENDRON, O. VICTOR MAzzoNn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

